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2007OR10-Feature

Astronomers have confirmed that the dwarf planet 2007 OR10 is 1 of the largest objects across the orbit of Neptune that we're currently aware of. The discovery was announced late last month, after the inquiry squad combined data from the Kepler infinite telescope and thermal readings from the Herschel Space Observatory. By using these 2 sources, the researchers were able to confirm that 2007 OR10 is larger than we first thought, with a much slower rotation menstruum.

The dwarf planets are some of the more than mysterious objects in the solar system. They're smaller than our own Moon — the largest dwarf planet, Pluto, has less than half the surface surface area of the Moon and less than 20% the mass. Our ability to image the farthest reaches of the solar system are quite limited, which is why Dawn'southward mission to Ceres and New Horizons' exploration of Pluto were and so significant.

2007OR10

In this example, scientists first detected 2007 ORx in 2007, but initially thought the planet would exist white. Further investigation has shown that it's night red, possibly the reddest object past Neptune (boyfriend dwarf-planet Quaoar may tie it for this honor). It's the largest unnamed object in the solar system if the new estimates of its size prove accurate.

Scientists believe the distinctive red color of both dwarf planets is due to the presence of marsh gas frosts, which turn cherry-red when irradiated by cosmic rays. 2007 OR10 is just large plenty to retain small amounts of methane in a very thin atmosphere, which would create the dark ruby hue observed past scientists. H2o ice has besides been detected on the planetoid, which may mean it was cryovolcanically active in the afar past.

2007 OR10 is a rather interesting planet, from what nosotros can tell. It's much larger than originally expected and its day is an estimated 45 hours long. Meanwhile the planet's orbit around the sun is long enough that it reached perihelion in 1857 and won't reach aphelion (the closest and uttermost points in its orbit from the sun) until 2130.

For those of you curious well-nigh how the search for Planet 9 might be related to this research and declaration, there doesn't seem to be any relationship between the two. 2007 OR10 doesn't announced in whatsoever of the literature discussing how the orbits of multiple Trans Neptunian Objects appears to have been nudged, and it wasn't used in any of the sit-in slides. While this new enquiry indicates that the dwarf planet is larger than was previously believed, information technology'south nowhere near big plenty to take impacted the orbits of so many other objects — and information technology'southward not in the estimated orbit for the equally-yet-undiscovered Planet ix.

No one has officially named the planet still, so experience gratis to submit your own ideas here. Dwarfy McDwarfface has already been proposed elsewhere, so effort to come with something improve.